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Overview of the Match

Introduction

The APPCN Resident Matching Program (the "APPCN Match") provides an orderly process to help applicants obtain positions in neuropsychology residency sites of their choice, and to help programs obtain applicants of their choice.

The Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN) is the sponsor of the APPCN Match. The administration and conduct of the APPCN Match is carried out by National Matching Services Inc. (NMS), on behalf of APPCN.

How It Works

With the APPCN Match, applicants must still apply to programs they are interested in, and applicants and programs interview and evaluate each other independently of the APPCN Match. However, no offers are made by programs during the interview period. Applicants and programs can evaluate each other fully before the programs must decide on their preferences for applicants, and before applicants must decide on their preferences for programs.

After all interviews are completed, each applicant submits a Rank Order List on which the applicant lists the desired programs, in numerical order of the applicant's preference (first choice, second choice, etc.). Similarly, each program submits a Rank Order List on which the program lists the desirable applicants, in order of the program's preference. Each program also indicates the number of positions the program has available.

The result of the APPCN Match is that each applicant is placed with the most preferred program on the applicant's Rank Order List that ranks the applicant and does not fill all its positions with more preferred applicants. Similarly, each program is matched with the most preferred applicants on its list, up to the number of positions available, who rank the program and who do not receive positions at programs they prefer.

Applicants and programs do not receive information about the rankings submitted by other applicants and programs. Each applicant is given only the final result the applicant obtains in the APPCN Match. Each residency is provided only with the names of the applicants that it obtains in the APPCN Match, as well as the results of the APPCN Match for the other applicants ranked by that residency.

It is possible that all of a particular program's positions will not be filled in the APPCN Match, and that some applicants will be left unmatched. When the results of the APPCN Match are released, information regarding positions that remain available is provided to applicants who are not matched. Similarly, information regarding unmatched applicants is provided to programs with unfilled positions. These unmatched applicants and programs with positions available are free to contact each other and to negotiate directly with each other, independently of the APPCN Match, to fill available positions.

Advantages of the Match

Since all offers, acceptances, rejections and final placements occur simultaneously, the APPCN Match is an effective and fair means of implementing a standardized acceptance date among APPCN Match participants. It allows participating programs and applicants to evaluate each other fully before determining preferences, thus alleviating the pressures to make premature decisions based on incomplete information. Furthermore, for participants in the APPCN Match, it alleviates many common adverse situations from the recruitment process, such as applicants hoarding multiple offers from participating programs, and applicants or programs reneging on a prior acceptance in order to accept a more preferred program or applicant that has subsequently become available. Also, a program can be assured that it will not be matched with more applicants than it has available positions.

In the APPCN Match, decisions by applicants and programs regarding rankings can be based on the applicants' and programs' true preferences for each other, without the need to speculate on the likelihood of subsequent offers being made or accepted. Both applicants and programs should list choices in order of preference, without consideration for how they will be ranked by the other party.